Tomas Soucek is yet to feature during the Nuno Espirito Santo era at West Ham United, but that should change when the Premier League returns after the international break.
The Czech Republic captain has missed the last three top-flight games due to the straight red card he picked up in the 3-0 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur a month ago.
There is no guarantee that he gets back in, either. At least, straight away.
While Soungoutou Magassa and Mateus Fernandes struggled at times during the 2-0 defeat by Arsenal last weekend, Nuno is clearly trying to get a pair of young summer signings up to speed with his tactical stylings.
And, although Nuno immediately bombed James Ward-Prowse out of his squad, that went hand-in-hand with Freddie Potts’ return to contention. Potts made his Premier League return at Everton, Nuno’s first match in charge.
With Lucas Paqueta also able to play a little deeper, Tomas Soucek could be in for a bit of a battle when club football resumes later this month.
Tomas Soucek is feeling fit despite West Ham United suspension
Unlikely to dislodge Paqueta in the attacking midfield role and arguably lacking the athleticism of Fernandes, Magassa and Potts these days, it remains to be seen what sort of a role the 30-year-old can expect under Nuno.
But after Soucek racked up 13 kilometres in the EFL Trophy defeat to Reading – dropping down to Mark Robson’s Under-21s in order to keep his sharpness up – West Ham’s long-serving number 28 insists that he is ready to go again.
Against Brentford during Nuno’s London Stadium debut on October 20th, and against both Croatia and the Faroe Islands during the World Cup qualifier double-header.
“Of course, I missed [last few West Ham] matches. But as you all know me [to do], I prepared honestly. I also played the match against Reading from the third tier,” Soucek tells Fotbal.
“I feel fit. It will be important that I feel the same in the match against Croatia.
“I still felt the same [as I usually do against Reading]. I had a match a week ago, so it’s not that long, but it’s true that I had a break for three matches after a long time. At least, I had a free weekend after a long time!
“But I’m ready as normal for the match [v Croatia]. I believe that we will prepare well as a whole team.”
“We have talked about [his suspension],” Czech Republic manager Ivan Hasek explained a few days earlier, via Sport. “He played for the junior team. We have the data, he ran thirteen kilometres [in that 3-1 Reading loss]. He will be rested.
“As a true captain, he has always helped us. I hope he will help us again.”
Soucek relished his role with West Ham’s reserves, imparting his knowledge upon the likes of Mohamadou Kante while earning plenty of praise for his professionalism and mentorship.
“Tomas Soucek came in and gave us a lot of experience, which really helped,” Robson said.
Freddie Potts hopes to play a big role under Nuno Espirito Santo
The make-up of Nuno’s machine-like Nottingham Forest XI offers an indication as to his long-term plans at the London Stadium.
At the City Ground, Nuno tended to field an athletic and complementary midfield trio. A combination of Elliott Anderson, Ryan Yates, Nicolas Dominguez and Ibrahim Sangare sitting behind Morgan Gibbs-White, freeing up the latter to pull the strings.
Potts, with his positive passing and off-the-ball tenacity, looks well-suited to, say, a Dominguez-esque role going forward.
“I felt confident,” Potts told the club’s official website recently. “The new manager’s come in and didn’t have a lot of time to set out his tactics, only having two days to do so.
“I think there’s a lot of hunger, [in the youngsters and the] senior players. There’s a lot of hunger. Everyone wants to play and everyone is helping each other out, especially in training. You see it as healthy competition, everyone’s pushing each other on to fight to start or to come on.
“I think that’s good to have, because obviously that keeps performances high, everyone’s got to be on their game. [Against Everton], I just wanted to show what I could do to the new manager and help the team in any way that I could. So, I’m happy.
“Hearing the fans chanting my name is something I’ve dreamt of since I first joined when I was five. I’m very happy and I’m hoping to hear that quite a few more times.”
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
